A helping hand

Helping to raise money is one way youth can give back to the community, a local high school student says.

The United Way of Thunder Bay and the Youth 4 Community group presented a cheque for $14,000 to two youth organizations at a media conference on Wednesday. Big Brothers Big Sister of Thunder Bay received $4, 881.50 for its Go Girls program and Shkoday Abinojiiwak Obimiwedoon/Evergreen received $9, 211.50 for its Youth Hub program.

High schools in the district raised the money throughout the 2010 school year and then students sat on the allocation committee. It was the first time since the United Way started the fundraising event seven years ago that students decided what organizations would receive the money.

Sarah Nixon, 17, a Grade 11 student at Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, sat on the allocation committee. She said it was a great way for her to learn where money goes when donated to a charity.

"I’ve been in a lot of fundraisers before and I really liked the opportunity to see where the money actually goes and be apart of that," Sarah said. "I’m definitely interested in helping the community and these skills will come in handy. I’m very interested in making big changes. Many youth believe that we should do something to help support our community. This opportunity helped us to see the full picture of why fundraising is important."

Through her experience on the committee, Sarah has learned it’s a lot harder to allocate to one or two organizations. She said they based their decision on who could do the most for the community.

Joanne Kembel, executive director of the United Way, said they thought since the youth raised the money they should be the ones who chose where it should go within the community. If the two organizations didn’t receive the funding they wouldn’t have been able to go ahead with their programming, she said.

"It’s very much a youth initiative and we’re very proud to be apart of that," Kembel said. "Youth are our future and unless we invest in our youth then we’re missing a golden opportunity. What we have seen is amazing, the talent, the enthusiasm, the energy bodes well for us and for the future of Thunder Bay."

Kembel said last year so successful that they will continue the project this year with the fundraising portion happening in the fall and then building the granting committee.